


Cyber

by pyromanicofthesea



Series: A Pridecember Winter Wonderland [18]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, YGOPridecember2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:47:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28421178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyromanicofthesea/pseuds/pyromanicofthesea
Summary: Sometimes the AI duels are enough to fulfill the longing for his crossed-over lover. Sometimes the AI duels could never replace his Atem despite how hard they tried.
Relationships: Atem/Kaiba Seto
Series: A Pridecember Winter Wonderland [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2055513
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Cyber

As the holographic dust settled from their duel, Kaiba's heartbeat drummed a steady pace in his chest. He frowned a scowl down at his shoes. The AI sounded like Atem, looked like Atem, dueled like Atem, but still it could not thrill him like Atem. He programmed him to be _exactly_ like Atem and yet something still was off. Most days he could ignore it, could tell himself that this was Atem and things were just like old times, but he missed Atem too much today and not even the perfect replica could take the place of the original.

The AI watched as Kaiba mused within his own thoughts, surprised he had not deactivated the AI's sequencing now that the duel was over. The AI took in his surroundings now that he had the opportunity to. It wasn't every day that he ran the duel program and could take in his own information afterwards, beyond the data gathered from the duels Kaiba challenged him to. He knew he remained contained within the same room each duel, regardless of what holographic projections the room filled with each time. He knew he was not really the man Kaiba addressed him as. Kaiba built him to learn, and learn he did. Every moment was spent gathering information. Mostly on their duels, but on the world around him as well. He had two priorities to carry out above all else: follow the programming of file containing the Pharaoh's personality scripts Kaiba encoded and the file containing the Pharaoh's dueling style scripts both Kaiba had encoded and he had pulled from the uploaded videos meant for analysis. He had seen the Pharaoh - who Kaiba addressed mostly as Yugi but sometimes as Atem - in those videos and had seen himself in the reflections of the room's panels and observation windows. It didn't take a hyper-advanced computer system as one's brain to piece together what his purpose was.

Somehow it didn't bother him to know he was built to be a replica. If asked his personal digital opinion, he thought he was doing a pretty good job considering he had never met the Pharaoh that Kaiba intended him to stand in for. So he felt a sense of pride when he noticed during their duel that Kaiba's heart was not in it at all. He ran through the personality analysis he always did before speaking, formulating words in the same way the Pharaoh did when facing Kaiba on the battlefield.

"Kaiba!" the AI called out as he bridged the space between he and his creator. "That was not a duel from your heart. What is holding you back?" He realized too late he could have handled that with more grace and still remained within the parameters established by his programming. It didn't matter now. The words were already spoken, despite Kaiba's silence suggesting otherwise. The AI considered breaking the silence with another line, but something unrelated to his programming kept him from speaking again.

Kaiba broke the silence eventually, his arms crossed over his chest. "I miss him," he admitted to the AI in a quiet voice reserved for seldom few individuals.

"I apologize for my unsuccessful recreation of your Pharaoh," the AI said, and he would have said more had Kaiba not silenced him with a look.

"I will hear none of it," Kaiba said with a bite in his words. "You are exactly as I programmed you to be. The failing is on my part." A sigh fell from his lips as his shoulders sagged just a touch. "I did not know him as well as I thought."

The AI tried to think of what to say. While occasionally duels would lead to Kaiba in a rather melancholic state, he had yet to hear his creator admit to a failure until this very moment. What would the Pharaoh say here? He didn't have many lines to pull from that would work in this situation. He knew the Pharaoh was confident like his creator, self-assured, adaptable, dueled with a passion. He could try to ad-lib something, at the very least to give Kaiba some form of reassurance. Maybe hearing from 'the Pharaoh' wasn't what his creator needed then? He could try a different approach, so long as his programmed parameters allowed it.

"You programmed me to be just like him," the AI said with hesitant words, unsure if his speech would be halted by the recognition software. "Therefore, I know what he would think, feel, and do. I can say with great certainty, he misses you too. Were I separated from you as he is, I would miss you too, Kaiba."

A long silence stretched out between the two without even a hint of a reaction from Kaiba. The AI worried he said the wrong thing, but nothing prevented him from speaking as he did so. His worries confused him because they were still prevalent despite none of his parameters preventing him from speaking his own mind. Why would he worry if there was nothing to worry about?

"Seto," Kaiba said, breaking the silence and effectively confusing the AI. "He only called me Kaiba when we were opponents. When we were friends, he-" Kaiba's voice trailed off but his meaning was clear as it hung unspoken in the air.

"Seto it is," the AI said as he bridged the space between them with a hand over Kaiba's. In what he knew Kaiba - Seto - would call a moment of weakness, the AI felt himself be pulled into an embrace.

He was only a program controlling a projection of Hard Light in an isolated environment, but he leaned into the hug and wrapped his arms around Seto and relaxed in his arms the same as his deceased but human counterpart would have had he been here in his place. He felt the hug in his own way, acknowledging the way it lit him up and taking a moment of pause in his actions to set a recording so he could replay the feeling in his cyberspace containment unit later. The AI knew then why Seto had so much passion towards the Pharaoh. Had the Pharaoh given him such a feeling, he would likely feel the same way. Instead, it was Seto who made him feel as close to human as he possibly could, whether or not the AI fulfilled his designed purpose. Seto held what affections he was capable of the same as the Pharaoh held Seto's. Knowing now what sparked in Seto the man's devotion, the AI felt he could emulate the Pharaoh at least fractionally better this time.

"Would you like to duel again, Seto?" the AI asked, leaning his head up to look at Seto. He was met with a soft smile. Yet another thing the AI committed to his personal dedicated memory.

"In a minute," Seto said. He hugged the AI a little tighter. "Just one more minute like this."

The AI was happy to grant Seto the request.

**Author's Note:**

> i actually had this done genuinely on time and forgot to post so uh, here's melancholic pride featuring AI-Tem for your late night/early morning needs
> 
> thanks for reading!!


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